The skills of our ancestors were such that we of a modern age can barely imagine. What we take as “primitive”, was normal life a couple generations ago. The common abilities of pioneering people were broad based, where we generally specialize in a career and purchase nearly every item we use, they supplied many things with their own hands, made from resources harvested from nature’s abundance.
Take the early Long hunter’s as an example. These were men who, in the late 18th century, would leave civilization in small groups and enter the wilds of what is now Kentucky, Tennessee and the Ohio valley. There they would explore, hunt, trap and live for months or years at a time with the few items they carried with them, which was not very much. From what we know they carried a long rifle (that being a flintlock black powder rifle), butcher knife, powder horn, salt, tobacco, and maybe a few traps. When the salt gave out, they went without. Same with their tobacco and coffee. Often they are known to have substituted some natural plants for tobacco and roots for coffee.
For shelter they commonly put up a very primitive lean-to made from tree limbs to shed wind, rain or snow. Roll up in a buffalo robe and sleep through long winter nights. Their food consisted mostly of meat taken with the long rifle, or trapped. No doubt they ate whatever wild plants were available and in season. For certain, the area they were in had and still does a great variety of eatable wild plants.
We of modern day cannot really relate to the actual skills required to ‘survive’ under such circumstances, much less thrive as they appear to have done. I am certain the only difference between them and us is their “skills” learned at an early age and practiced constantly as a way of life. Having read some early diaries of some of these woodsmen it is remarkable the powers of endurance, observation, energy and confidence they possessed.
There is no way to roll back time, nor would it be desirable to live their lives without the wonderful inventions to make our lives easier. However, the basic skills should not be forgotten and regulated to the history books. There is a lot of foolish misinformation about some of these skills, no doubt spoken by people who themselves have had no real experience with the tools and proper skill to use them.
Take the muzzle loading flintlock rifle as an example. We often read the ‘old wives tale’ that a flintlock is an unreliable weapon, or that the ignition system is slow or that they were worthless beyond very short ranges. Here is the reason such rumors get started; someone takes up a flintlock rifle and goes out to shoot it without any instruction or experience. First they put too much priming powder in the pan, that will certainly make for a slow ignition as the powder has to burn its way to the main charge. The ideal is to have a small amount of powder in the pan that when fired, what actually sets off the main charge is a flash rather than a burn. Sometimes we hear of a person trying to treat a muzzle loader as a modern weapon by shooting it and then not cleaning the bore until days later, not good. You will have a poor opinion of any muzzle loading weapon if not properly cleaned after a shooting session.
I don’t claim to be an expert with a flintlock, but I have observed some people who can shoot a flintlock rifle better than most of us can a modern gun. It is a matter of “skill”, that is properly learned and practiced. Same is true of starting a fire without matches. You sometimes read how it took the pioneers hours to get a fire going with flint and steel. Only if they were a 4 year old child! In fact, with the proper items for catching the spark and tow for getting the flame, with a little practice one can have a flame in just a few seconds. I have seen many flames within 15 seconds from a flint and steel. Again it is a matter of “skills”.
I have often wondered why it seems so hard for me to use a felling axe. I have two conclusions. One is our forefathers knew how to keep a sharp edge on their axe. Two is training. I don’t know how to use an axe properly. There are plenty of men who do, just watch some of the logging show competitions, there is a certain skill and training required to properly use an axe, saw or any other tool that was the common article of days gone by. There is another element to axmanship too, that is the quality of steel found in axes. I have a fair collection of axes and have noticed that any axe over 50 years old seems to take and hold a much better edge than any axe purchased over the last decade or two. Woodsman of yesteryear who entered the wilderness for an extended stay demanded an axe they could depend on, a ‘junk axe’ would have cost them their lives, if they survived, it might have cost the “axe maker” his life!
Do we not wonder how our civilization would survive if for some reason we had to relearn the skills of yesterday? I don’t think we can even say “the strong” would survive verses the “weak”, for even those terms have a misleading premise. What is “strong”? If we speak of physical strength only we kid ourselves. Strength is more than physical power. Just look at some pictures of special forces soldiers of our own day. What often strikes me is just looking at these men, who are the best among our generation, often they are not imposing as a specimen of the human body. But knowing the training and testing they have withstood to succeed, they are strong and not just in muscle and bone. These guys have an invisible backbone made of steel! The mental toughness has more to do with their success than their raw physical power. Not that they are weaklings, obviously the physical fitness must be there and in spades! But the difference between those who make the grade compared to those who fail, is more often in the psychology of the mind than in the actual strength of the body. The man who would rather die than quit is the one who often endures to the end of his course.
But I have digressed. Our current state of affairs seems to be on a fast track toward losing the skills that enabled our nation to survive a lot of tough times. Even though we don’t need to chop a tree down with an axe, it is a skill that should not be forgotten. Just because we might not need to grow our own food, does not mean that we will “never need to”.
If you want to create respect for our ancestors, just try to learn some of the things they did on a daily basis. Cook a few meals over a woodstove, cut some firewood with an axe and saw. Butcher a hog, chicken or deer. All of these things will seem “hard” at first, but I dare say with experience and instruction, if it is available, we just might surprise ourselves with the skills we can acquire.
You might just find that life is more interesting if you challenge yourself to make a life habit of learning new things, and old things rediscovered.
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